Again, thanks for the reviews, keep 'em coming, it's fueling me to write more. Hope ya enjoy this next installment!

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Part 3

He sits there in the semi-darkness, the pale moonlight casting a thin beam into the room. The rain falls steadily outside. It pelts the window and he remembers briefly, a time long ago that he hadn't until just now.

He remembers her bright eyes as they danced with laughter and the whisper of a smile that played on her face. He remembers her grasping his hand and pulling him out from underneath the shelter of the campus roof into the falling rain.

She let go of his hand and closed her eyes and then just stood there, content and free of burdens; as if she shared one little secret with the heavens that no one else could know. Her innocence shined like a beacon and he remembers savoring the moment she ran up to him and their wet clothes clung to each other as though they always had and always should. And she held him with a tightness he hadn't understood but didn't question and smiled as she did so.

He looks at her now and wishes for all the world that they could share that again as the rain continues its torrent. He knows she would love it; she has always loved rain. But it seems fate has other plans and he is content to watch her.

She's laid there for a week now, unchanging and peaceful and he aches at the thought she might never move. He stayed with her the first night, but after that, he'd gone to the scene. So had the rest of them. Not only because it was their job, though that was a major part of it; but also because they bled for it. They needed to know what had happened, how it had happened, and why.

But the why could never be answered. Grissom knew that as long as he lived he'd never know why Sara or any other people for that matter, were subjected to fates such as this or far worse.

He reaches out a hand and strokes her cheek faintly, lovingly; compelling her to wake.

Nick had said Sara seemed scared as she lay there. It was easy for someone to say that nothing frightened them, but it was entirely another to suddenly lay there, feeling the blood soaking beneath you and know the end was fast approaching. Sara was one of the bravest people he knew; but she was also one of the most human. And though she, much like himself, had built a wall around herself that only few could penetrate, he wasn't at all surprised at the subtle fear that pooled in the depths of her soul and the fact that she hadn't fought to hide it.

She didn't cry out, she didn't scream or whine. She barely spoke, and when she did, it was to say goodbye. He realizes, looking back, that he was probably filled with more fear than she and that was indeed a rare thing.

He doesn't know what he feels now. Perhaps it is fear, but not an all- consuming one. Perhaps guilt; guilt at not having gone in with her to pay. He feels regret most of all; regret that he's realized just now what he should've a long time ago.

It isn't a fear so much as a known truth; Sara is his constant and should she not make it, he wonders how he will go on simply breathing.

Brushing back a stray hair, he sighs wearily and blinks away the slightest hint of fatigue as he continues his vigil.

Footsteps in the doorway catch his attention and he glances up at the silhouette briefly. Catherine stands there with a small book in her hand and moves forward, not questioning the blackness that envelopes the room. She merely takes a seat opposite Grissom and pulls her chair closer to Sara.

This is their routine. They all came when they could and stayed until sleep or work beckoned them. Then they'd return and begin the cycle once more. This was how it was and how it would be to the end of eternity if it came to that.

Catherine whispers, though she doesn't know why and rubs a hand fondly over the book she holds as she speaks.

"She told me once not too long ago that this was her favorite poem. I never understood why, but then I read it over and over until it hit me. The last stanza...it-it reminds me of her somehow and I can't explain it."

Grissom nodded, for he's known it was her favorite, and he too had applied it to her and most especially to the situation she is currently in. Grissom urges Catherine to read the last stanza as they sit there.

Catherine opens the book to the page with frayed and slightly faded edges from constant use and draws in a breath as she slowly, hauntingly, reads the stanza.

"The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep. And miles to go before I sleep..."

Just before the last line is read, Grissom grasps Sara's hand and raises it to his lips then recites the repititious line with Catherine as the rain continues to pelt the world outside.

"And miles to go before I sleep."